Streak To The Finish...The Lenox Industrial Tools 301

I would like to pass on congratulations to Kurt "The Rain Man" Busch but I just hate seeing races end like that and especially with condition of his car, looks like the left rear shock assembly was about to drop off of the car but it is what it is and it is a win in the record books for Kurt, as Tony Stewart said, "That's racing man."

A recap from the race. Don't be afraid to chime in on your opinions, they are all welcome here.

1. Can AJ Allmindinger ever catch a break? He has an outstanding qualifying run and then his car goes south for the winter. I wonder what Vickers was thinking when he saw his teammate blow up?

2. Giving the High Sign. After McMurray plowed into the back of Junior, I am sure Junior was not replaying the hand signal he was giving to let everyone know he was pitting. I thought we had spotters out there for the drivers?

3. Punt, Pass & Kick. That was the name of the game for the little episode that took place between Kyle Busch and Montoya. Okay, so NASCAR holds Montoya for two laps for his aggressive driving but is it just because Kyle is the points leader that he was not guilty in this incident. Indeed Montoya spun him around and in the process wrecked his own car but it takes two to tango. The post race interviews were totally different and Montoya was not afraid to say, "Yeah, I spun him." All is fair in love and war but not in this case.

4. Dreary Times. It was not only the weather that was depressing on Sunday. Stewart was just not feeling it after having such a dominate car to find himself finishing 13th on the day. His interview went rather well but of course it wasn't Marty Snider doing the interview. The #20 Team is just having that kind of season. It is just a matter of time before Smoke gets in Victory Lane.

5. More Empty Seats. I know I keep talking about this week after week but once again you could see the empty spots in the grandstands at Loudon which is normally a sold out event. People blame it on the threat of rain for the weekend. I call BS on that one. NASCAR fans are the most passionate and after spending all that money on tickets and travel time, they will be there. Just another indication that our economy is really effecting the things we love to do.

6. Casey at bat. But who will he be at bat with next year? It was said by Rick Hendrick that Casey Mears will not be in the #5 car next year. Despite having a 7th place finish this week and a Top 5 last week at Sonoma, looks like he is on his way out. I give credit to Casey for going out there every week and giving it his best but you can only do your best with what they give you.

7. Brothers In Arms. So we have Jimmie and Jeff doing a little bumping and grinding against each other. Jeff calls it racing and Jimmie calls Jeff a spoiled brat over his radio. Will Daddy Hendrick have to put Jimmie in a time out if they can't play well together?

8. Silence is Golden. Or is it? The most under rated driver out there right now in the Top 12 in the point standings is Jeff Burton. You never hear anything about him during the race except how he is slowly moving up through the field and that is about it. He starts 31st and finishes 12th under the red flag. Too bad the rain came, would of been interesting to see those last 17 laps.

9. Not Too Shabby. The race was actually pretty exciting this week even though they added an extra "Lap" to the race. Just thought it odd to be the Lenox Industrial Tools 301. Sounds more like an advanced shop class at college.

Off we head down to the Triple H (Hazy, Hot and Humid) of Daytona for the Coke Zero 400. Can someone please tell me who thinks up these names for the races.

Streak To The Finish...Toyota/Save Mart 350

Who would of thought that Kyle Busch would be winning this race. The way everyone has been talking about him and his lack of performance really put a fire in his belly and he was out to prove everyone wrong and he did it impressively. Once Kyle got out front, there was no looking back. There were a few times that drivers had a chance at him, especially Jamie McMurray and David Gilliland but the #18 was just too quick and Kyle did not miss his mark. Whether you like him or not, you have to admit that this kid is really on fire and has his eye on the prize to be the next Cup Champion.

Here are some of my observations from the race at Sonoma and most of them came with about 8 laps to go:

1. Was Kevin Harvick trying to make a 7-10 split in the closing laps of the race? He just drove that car too hard into the turn and completely lost it and in the process, took out two of the contenders that had a very good chance at giving Busch a run for his money in Tony Stewart and Jamie McMurray. Tony did recover and finished 10th but McMurray ended up with a disappointing 18th place finish.

2. How about that tire pressure. Elliott Sadler really did push the limits with two laps to go with that tire. Was it a risk to take? I can see the view of the team trying to push it and finish the race but what if Elliott's tire would of blown out, how many cars behind him would of been effected? You know that Clint Bowyer was really watching him carefully but on the flip side to that, a driver is so worried about that, that he loses his concentration about the other drivers around him. Do you think NASCAR should of black flagged him? It is all opinion and he ended up finishing 19th and wrecked his car. Was it really worth it?

3. Doing Donuts. That was one of the best burnouts I have seen in awhile and look how symmetrical those circles were that Kyle made right at the finish line although his rear drivers tire was completely vaporized.

4. Road Course Ringers not hearing the bell. What happened to all of the hired guns for this race? Most of them finished at the back of the field due to mechanical problems. One of the BIGGEST disappointments was Marcos Ambrose who was running in the Top 5 for most of the day until the incident with McMurray that knocked him out of the race and finished his day early. It is really disheartening when you have a guy that is driving his first cup race but let us not forget, he did not make too many friends out there on the track. He was driving a bit too aggressive and not doing the give and take. You need to gain the respect of your fellow drivers out there and with his style of driving, he did not gain any favor points.

5. More Empty Seats. Once again, we see the lack of filled seats at another race and it is probably not going to get any better in the future with skyrocketing gas prices, especially in California. I am surprised the smaller teams are being able to keep up. I have this gut feeling that some teams both in the Cup series and in the Nationwide series are going to be forced to bail out and retire their organizations. In a sport that is fueled by gas, no pun intended, it has to be a strain. It is not cheap to fuel those haulers when you are paying close to $5.00/gallon for diesel.

6. Hey Marty, get the hint. Marty Snider needs to pick and choose his words more carefully, especially when he is interviewing Tony Stewart. I give Tony a lot of credit for maintaining his composure during the post race interview. Tony was trying to tell Snider that he did not get to see the replay of the accident and Snider just kept pushing the issue until Tony, very calmly, said "You were not in the car and out on the field so how would you know what is going on." Umm Marty, that was a subtle hint to shut up before you were made to shut up. Snider did try to recover by saying that Tony had a great car but that is just adding more salt to the wound. Just another case of foot in mouth disease by these stellar reporters that are hired to cover the races.

7. Give credit where credit is due. As I mentioned earlier, critics have been really hard on Kyle Busch. Yes, he does have this "Rowdy" attitude about him but having 5 wins under his belt has to say something for the kid. He has shown that he is very versatile in his racing being able to race pretty much anywhere on any track. Now that he has put aside racing in the other leagues, he is staying focused on the #18 Team and winning the Cup this year. Does he remind you of another driver that was this young? Just in case you are wondering who I am talking about, it is Jeff Gordon. Fans either love him or hate him and that is the way the fans are seeing Kyle. Not too many boo's heard from the crowd after his victory. Does this signal a change in the way fans are viewing him? We shall wait and see.

Overall, my predictions for this race were a little skewed. I was expecting to see more from the Road course warriors and more of a challenge for the lead but we only saw two passes for the lead and once Kyle got out front, it was all over. We had to wait for the last 8 laps of this race for it to become exciting. Just your typical road course race. Better to just DVR it and watched it later. I do want to put out a congrats to David Gilliland and Yates Racing for finishing 2nd, his best finish of his career.

Next up is Loudon. Looks like those haulers will be paying big money at the pumps to get all the teams back across the country. Who is the rocket scientist that do the NASCAR schedules? Do you think we will see another schedule change for 2009 now that the economy is being hit so hard. If I am a betting man, we are going to see changes. We may even see some of the races cut from the schedule but alas that is just my opinion.

I hope everyone has a great week.

Gloomy Day at the Glen

Okay, so we know that Juan had his fair share of incidents on the track. Did he purposely spin out Harvick? I really don't think so after watching the replay for the 1000th time. That is not to say that Juan was driving a bit too hard and didn't give the #1 any room but hey this is road course racing and Juan is a very good road course racer but this is the big leagues and everyone needs to play along with each other in the sand box otherwise you might find yourself stuck in it. It was just one of those days at the Glen. Just a side note, Juan did get into the back end of Dale Jarrett also, although that was not televised as much as the rock em sock em robot fight with him and Happy.

Just some side notes:

1. Great job by Ron Fellows and the #96 DLP team...they sure did need a good finish. A Road Course Warrior prevails.

2. Does the media have any sense of humanity? So Jeff went into the turn a bit too hard and lost it but give the guy a break and let him have a chance to cool down and relax instead of shoving the microphone right in his face. Calgon, take me away!!!

3. How about Denny and racing all over except on the track. He sure didn't care about his teammate that was running right next to him.

4. Poor Junior. Someone better check Teresa's pocketbook for a voodoo doll because he just can not catch a break. Gives a new meaning to "Going out with a bang."

Overall, it was a pretty exciting race to watch despite being a road course. Congrats to Tony Stewart. One person's misfortune is another ones gain!